The movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy have grossed more than $6 billion in box office receipts, DVD sales and other merchandising. Wow. Wouldn't you love to have a piece of that? Say, 7.5% or so? Well, maybe not. (Thanks to Tom Hegeman for the link.)
I used to like Ben Stein. I found him humorous and enjoyed his game show. Friends of mine would belittle him and I'd say, "Hey, we need all the funny Conservatives we can get." It didn't even bother me that he was a shameless Nixon apologist, that he doesn't believe in evolution or that I once saw him be pretty darned rude to a sales clerk in a Good Guys electronics shop. Heck, I'd even overlook his track record as an alleged economics authority which, in the early days of the current crisis, consisted of an unbroken string of dead-wrong predictions.
But — I know...you could smell the "but" coming — at some point, he seems to have decided that if he's getting paid enough, he'll do a commercial for anything.
Did you have an Atari 2600? At the time (early eighties), it seemed like the most sophisticated video game festival you could ever desire...such a quantum leap up from Pong. I had one. In fact, I'm pretty sure I still have it, though if you pointed a rifle at me, I couldn't tell you where it is. But somewhere in this house (or more likely, one of my storage units), there's a box containing an Atari 2600, the controllers for it and about fifty game cartridges. It may no longer work and I'll probably never hook it up again to find out. But it was just too neat a little device to throw it away now.
The most-played was Adventure in which you got to assume the role of a little square that navigated a maze-like kingdom, trying to elude two dragons who looked like seahorses. You had to search for a glowing chalice and it helped if you could use the sword (which looked like an arrow) and a magic bridge...and it helped to avoid the bat which could every so often fly in and swap some item for whatever you were holding.
I'm boring myself just describing it but trust me: It was addictive and fun. It won't be when you play it online at this site but it was then. For some reason.
Rolling Stone, which previously only had excerpts available, seems to have posted the entirety of Matt Taibbi's "The Great American Bubble Machine," his massive bringdown of the Goldman, Sachs empire. The piece has been much-argued from every side, and the loudest voices against it seem to be those who feel Taibbi is letting others off the hook by zeroing in only on Goldman, Sachs. Give it a read if you're in the mood to get angry.
Okay, listen up. June Foray's autobiography will be making its debut at the Comic-Con International next week. Earl Kress and I helped her with it and Leonard Maltin did the foreword but forget about us. This is June Foray...the First Lady of Cartoon Voices. The voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel. The voice of Natasha and Granny and Nell Fenwick and Jokey Smurf and more commercials and other cartoons than you could ever imagine. It's a book about her, Chuck Jones, Stan Freberg, Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, Jay Ward, Bill Scott and a whole golden era of animation and kids' records and entertainment.
If you've ever loved anything June has done, you want this book, which is lavishly illustrated with photos from her private files. And you especially want to buy it at the Comic-Con because June will be there to sign it for you.
It will only be available at the booth of the Van Eaton Gallery, which is space 501. They'll be the only ones in the hall who have it. June will be there from 5 PM to 6 PM on Friday, 4 PM to 6 PM on Saturday and 1 PM to 2 PM on Sunday. She may be there other times, as well but that's the schedule. They'll have signed copies at other hours but she might not be there to personalize them to you.
They may also run out. The book printed yesterday and the printer will only be able to get a certain number there in time. So when they're gone, they're gone 'til after the con when more arrive. (But do yourself a favor and pick up Darryl Van Citters' new book on the making of Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, which Van Eaton will also have. Looks great.)
June, by the way, will also be appearing on a special spotlight panel on Saturday at 2:30 PM in room 5AB. The room's not nearly big enough to hold all her fans so get there early. She'll be interviewed by Earl and me, and she'll participate in a special cartoon script reading with a couple of other talented voice actors.
In a week or so here, I hope to be able to post info on how you can order a signed copy of June's book over the Internet. But if you can't wait, remember: Van Eaton Gallery. Space 501. Must visit.
Here's a nice piece o' video featuring my pal, Pete Barbutti, who may just be the best storyteller to ever work a stage in or around Las Vegas. Very funny man. This was shot at a private birthday party/roast for Vegas entertainer Johnny Jay in 2007. It's six minutes of Pete taking a great joke and milking it for all it's worth (and then some) as he pretends it has something to do with Mr. Jay.
July 17, 2009
